Common Sense Classical 12/13/23 Common Sense Classical 12/13/23

Why Read Whole Books?

It’s becoming more and more common for schools to assign short stories or excerpts from textbooks. Or, if students do read an entire book, they do so individually rather than journeying through a novel altogether as a class. So why read whole books? Why have everyone in the class read the same thing? What makes this distinctly classical?

Common Sense Classical 1/23/23 Common Sense Classical 1/23/23

Diversity in Classical Schools

As I’ve mentioned before, I give a lot of school tours and it’s not uncommon for questions about curriculum, student population, and even staff population as they relate to diversity to come up. These are tricky questions to address. I’ve learned, though, that there are few individuals as equipped to answer these kinds of questions as Dr. Robert Garrow. Check out the interview here.

Common Sense Classical 10/27/22 Common Sense Classical 10/27/22

4 FAQs about Special Education

Here I answer some of the most common questions I receive about special education and explain the uniquely classical approach that’s encouraging many families with students of varying needs to enroll at classical schools.

Common Sense Classical 9/21/22 Common Sense Classical 9/21/22

Classical vs. Classical Christian - What’s the Difference?

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Mr. Paul Fisher, the Headmaster of Capstone Classical Academy - a new Classical Christian school located in Fargo, North Dakota. As someone who works at a public classical charter school, I was keen to hear the perspective of someone working to bring classical education to students and families on a private, religious platform.

Common Sense Classical 7/5/22 Common Sense Classical 7/5/22

The Next Book Every Parent Should Read

Have you ever classified yourself as “not a math person”? Have you ever heard your child say that about themselves? If so, I have the perfect book for you.

Common Sense Classical 4/12/22 Common Sense Classical 4/12/22

Fostering The Virtue of Friendship At Home

Friendship is often thought of as a virtue that comes most naturally to children. However, it needs careful tending, because the virtue of friendship is not just something that we possess, but requires that we do something - namely, be a friend.

Common Sense Classical 2/1/22 Common Sense Classical 2/1/22

Preparing For Classical School

“What can we do in the meantime?” This is a fair and important question to ask; families who have really seen something in classical education know that it offers things that they want in their children’s lives right now. They know that classical education deliberately challenges students, so they want to get their children prepared for success.

Common Sense Classical 12/14/21 Common Sense Classical 12/14/21

8 Questions Every Parent Should Ask On A Tour

In my experience, parents can tell a lot about a school from just a few simple questions. I’ve compiled a list here of essential questions to ask on a tour - they are also some of my favorites to answer.

Common Sense Classical 11/30/21 Common Sense Classical 11/30/21

Why Does Classical Education Work? Meet Dorothy Sayers

Allow me to introduce you to one of the giants of classical education. Meet Dorothy Sayers - she contributed massively to the classical education movement by explaining so many of the “hows” and “whys” behind the teaching philosophy.

Common Sense Classical 9/14/21 Common Sense Classical 9/14/21

Starting the Year Strong: Habits for a Classical Home Life

There are some things that can be helpful specifically for classical students to start the year off on the right foot. Used in the long-term, these habits will help to support and foster a truly classical life at home, month after month.

Common Sense Classical 5/10/21 Common Sense Classical 5/10/21

Why Children Thrive Without Technology

How much access should students have to computers? How much screen time is too much screen time? Why use pencil and paper anymore? Should schools really have an allocated “technology” budget?

Common Sense Classical 4/19/21 Common Sense Classical 4/19/21

Habits for Student Writers: Writing as Sport

I grant that the comparison is strange (even to the point of being funny), but, for me, it has often made the difference between writing well and failing to write altogether.

Common Sense Classical 4/12/21 Common Sense Classical 4/12/21

Overheard at a Classical School: Part two

My office shares a wall with our school clinic. Normally, this means I hear anything from cold-induced sniffles to tall tales of tummy aches.

Common Sense Classical 3/29/21 Common Sense Classical 3/29/21

Habits for Student Writers: How to Write Sustainably

Does your student hate to write? Does she fear it? Does she put it off until disaster impends and then sprint miserably through it?

Common Sense Classical 3/22/21 Common Sense Classical 3/22/21

Are Classical Schools Elitist?

It’s hard to know for sure where this impression comes from, but it’s not entirely unwarranted and certainly deserves to be addressed. When I myself have encountered elitism within classical education the culprit is generally pretty simple

Common Sense Classical 3/15/21 Common Sense Classical 3/15/21

Habits for Student Writers: Where and When to Write

Writing essays causes students a great deal of stress. And the work is scarcely easier for parents, who often feel their children’s worries even more than the children do themselves.

Common Sense Classical 3/4/21 Common Sense Classical 3/4/21

Finding happiness in school

Children should be happy in school.

Common Sense Classical 2/25/21 Common Sense Classical 2/25/21

Science and Math in a Classical School

Classical education has given us some of the greatest scientists, inventors, and mathematicians in history. For proof, look to classically educated scientists like…

Common Sense Classical 2/15/21 Common Sense Classical 2/15/21

Overheard at a Classical school

It was a typical Wednesday for me.

I started the day by answering emails from the previous evening, and I had a tour scheduled in the morning. In the time of COVID, tours are a smaller affair, but they remain a favorite part of my job.

Common Sense Classical 2/8/21 Common Sense Classical 2/8/21

Inspiring wonder in your home

From an academic standpoint, wonder is inexplicably valuable. Students who possess wonder have a thirst for knowledge that will carry them beyond their secondary education.